1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for interacting and selecting information on a video device. The method and apparatus employ a remote control unit which has a plurality of user interface devices disposed thereon which controls information on the video device in a predetermined manner. The method and apparatus for interacting with information on the video device directly interacts with Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) tags without a mouse pointer.
2. Description of the Background Art
Mouse devices exist for selecting information such as hypertext markup language (HTML) tags that are present on the World Wide Web (WWW) or internet. Such mouse devices of the conventional art require a graphical pointer displayed on the video device or screen in order to select the HTML tags. Such mouse devices make controlling of the pointer on the video device very difficult and in many instances, when the user is located at a significant distance from the video device, control of the graphical pointer becomes significantly more difficult. Furthermore, rapid advancing or regressing of information on the video screen of the conventional art is also very difficult due to the large amount of movement across the video device required by the mouse pointer.
While some mouse devices of the conventional art have attempted to increase the rate at which information moves across a video device by employing a scrolling mechanism disposed on the mouse device, the user of the mouse device is still required to accurately position a graphical mouse pointer in regions of the screen which are substantially small. A further drawback of the prior art is that many of the mouse devices require a substantially planar rolling surface in which the graphical pointer can be controlled by the user. In other prior art devices which include "track ball" type mouse devices, positioning of the mouse pointer becomes very tedious due to the sensitivity of the "track ball" relative to the movement of the user's finger or thumb.
With the internet age fast approaching society, web browsers have become useful tools for searching and acquiring information. "Web Surfing" is not only an important way to get knowledge and exchange information but it is now a way to relax and a provides a means of enjoyment for users. With the mouse devices of the prior art, the advantages of the internet and world wide web cannot be fully appreciated by the users.
As seen in FIG. 19, a mouse device 10 of the conventional art is shown. The mouse device 10 includes buttons 12 which activate functions of a mouse pointer 20 (shown in FIG. 20). The mouse device 10 further includes scrolling wheels 14 as well as cable or wire 16 that directly connects to a CPU (not shown). The prior art mouse device 10 is required to be operated upon a planar surface 18 so that movement of the mouse device 10 across the planar surface 18 will cause a ball mechanism 22 to rotate. The mouse device 10 is designed for computer based applications where a user will typically be located adjacent to a video device such as a cathode-ray tube device (not shown). Typically a user will be separated away from the video device by a distance which is substantially less than three feet. Such a short distance permits the user to easily track the mouse pointer 20 which moves in accordance with the relative movement of the ball 22.
As seen in FIG. 20, the mouse pointer 20 in a windows based web browser is used to interact with information on a computer screen 24. Significant hand movement is required by the user to move the mouse pointer 20 to various points on the computer screen 24. Furthermore, at distances greater than three feet from the computer screen 24, tracking or viewing movement of the mouse pointer 20 becomes very difficult due to the limited vision capabilities of the user. Furthermore, at distances greater than three feet from the computer screen 24, a significant amount of cabling or wiring 26 (see FIG. 19) will be required to permit the user to be spaced at such a distance from the computer screen 24.
Accordingly, a need in the art exists for a method and apparatus for interacting with information on a video device that can advance and regress through information without the need to control a graphical mouse pointer. A further need exists in the art for a method and apparatus for interacting with information on a video device which employs a remote control unit that has a plurality of unit user interface devices which manipulate information on a video device without a graphical mouse pointer.